What Makes Shami So Dangerous?

It was a typically pleasant, slightly nippy March morning in Dharamshala, but Mohammed Shami, who was in town to play in the Deodhar Trophy, was feeling the chill. The India pacer’s estranged wife, Hasin Jahan, had just launched an all-out attack on the 28-year-old, her enraged face on every TV channel accusing him of infidelity. More embarrassingly for him, she had even made public his whatsapp conversations with a Pakistani lady.

Clearly worried about the turn of events, Shami had seemed distracted the previous evening and was smashed around for 96 runs off his 10 overs. Worse was to follow the next day: When the BCCI announced fresh contracts for the Indian players, Shami’s name was missing. Worried about the image of the Indian cricketer post the controversy, the BCCI had decided to withhold his contract.

The speedster, who was the hero of India’s memorable Test win in Johannesburg against South Africa, taking 5/28 in the second innings, had to now undergo an anti-corruption inquiry by the BCCI, which soon cleared him of any wrongdoing. Shami got his contract, but lost his place in the ODI team after failing the yo-yo test.

Now, barely a year later, Shami is a certainty for the World Cup. Adversity seems to have made him better. That he had worked hard on his fitness was evident in England last summer, when he played all the five Tests of the series, taking 16 wickets to emerge as one of the few shining lights in a series India lost 1-4.

Before going to Australia, Shami played a Ranji match for Bengal against Kerala with a rider that he couldn’t bowl more than 15 overs in an innings — he ended up bowling 26.

In Australia, combining superbly with Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, the fast bowler took 16 wickets in four Tests at 26.18, as India’s pace battery played a huge part in the team’s 2-1 triumph Down Under. Picked for the ODIs after a long time, Shami put up a decent show in Australia, before coming into his own in New Zealand, getting the Man-of-the-Match award in the first and third ODIs. In three ODIs, he has picked seven wickets @14.71 prompting skipper Virat Kohli to compliment the pacer. “It’s the fittest that I’ve seen him,” he said.

“He’s the main reason why we are dominating opponents. He’s a captain’s delight. A few personal problems were pulling him down, but from this Australian tour, he’s been the difference between us and the opposition. He’s the ‘Virat Kohli’ of our bowling. It’s because of bowlers like him that a captain will feel that his team can pick 20 wickets anytime. He’s in complete control of whatever he wants to bowl,” praised former India seamer Raju Kulkarni.

Shami’s sizzling form has gladdened the heart of chief selector MSK Prasad too.

“He’s been phenomenal. Right through the last year, since the series against South Africa, he’s been bowling extremely well. Credit also must go to the fitness regimen that he’s been put under by Shankar (Basu, team India trainer) and Patrick (Farhart, physio). The bowling coach (Bharat Arun) has been working on him.

"Credit should also go to the workload management, which has kept him fresh. We didn’t pick him against the West Indies at home against India,” Prasad told TOI.

The former India stumper also praised the BCCI for standing by the pacer during his tough time.

Explaining what makes Shami so dangerous for batsmen, Prasad said: “According to biomechanics, the entire momentum should be directed towards the target. In this case, the target is the stumps. If you see a majority of his wickets, they’re either bowled or lbw. If you see his body, his rhythm, everything is directed towards the target — he’s blessed with it. Probably, that’s why he generates so much pace.”

Former India batsman and chief selector, Sandeep Patil, who picked Shami for India in early 2013, said: “I first saw him about eight years back when I was a director at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), after Arun asked me to have a look at him. He was a special bowler. I feel so proud that I was a part of the system when these boys got selected. We got a lot of stick for dropping some greats, but today it’s been proved that it was an ideal decision.”

When Shami was dropped from the Indian team last year after failing to clear the yo-yo test, Patil had aired his views about the need to back the pacer in what was a difficult phase. “I’m happy to see him make a strong comeback. It’s not easy when your mind is unstable. I had said at that time that considering the rough time he was going through, he deserved another crack at the yo-yo test,” he recalls.

A conversation with Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary, who is his close friend, gives one an idea about the steel that Shami’s made of.

“It’s his immense mental strength that has helped him overcome that phase. All his personal issues were out in the public domain. I knew that he’d bounce back. His face or body language never gave me the indication that he was going through a tough time,” says Tiwary.

Tiwary tells you what helped Shami overcome the most tumultuous period in his life.

“He deserves all the credit for his success because his vision was clear. He knew that if he had to overcome these issues, he had to keep his focus on cricket. He worked hard on his game, and kept himself away from all these issues. The best thing he did was that he wasn’t in Kolkata when this controversy erupted. He was in his native place (Amroha). That really helped him. He used to upload his practice videos from there,” Tiwary recalls.

What makes Shami a menacing bowler? “After Zaheer Khan, if there is one bowler I’ve seen who can land the ball on the seam, it’s Shami,” says Tiwary.

Tiwary, who played 12 ODIs and two T20Is for India, believes that like in the Tests, Shami can be India’s strike bowler in the ODIs too. Patil, though, cautions that it’s crucial that Shami’s form lasts till the World Cup.

“Seeing his rhythm and form, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he remains fit and consistent till the World Cup, because main picture abhi baaki hai!,” he says.

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